New Delhi: The Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) is under the cloud for slew of allegations including financial irregularity & impropriety and also intimidation of players.
Uttarakhand police has registered an FIR against CAU’s secretary Mahim Verma, team’s head coach Manish Jha and also the Association’s spokesperson Sanjay Gusain, after father of a former U-19 cricketer approached police seeking action against them for issuing threats to his son.
The trio have also been questioned on the complaint of Virendra Sethi, who complained that his son & former Under -19 player Arya Sethi was given extortion & death threats by them during Vijay Hazare tournament last year, reported a leading daily.
Following slew of allegations by former players & also a cricketing professional, the CAU has to do a lot of answering. Players have accused the board of denying payment of allowances and also being denied food during matches & tournaments.
Rs 35 lakh bill for buying bananas
Robin Bist, a cricketing professional of Uttarakhand, revealed before the press that during the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 quarterfinal against Mumbai, the players were told by the team manager to order food from ‘Swiggy’ or ‘Zomato’ and added that staying hungry for a day won’t kill them, reported Indian Express.
An Independent MLA Umesh Kumar has also leveled corruption charges against CAU officials in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.
Moreover, the audit report of CAU further puts the cricketing board into a quandary. The audit has found that even when there was a freeze on tournaments during pandemic, the cricketing board listed Rs 1,74,07,346 for food and catering and Rs 49,58,750 for daily allowances. This includes Rs 35 lakh for bananas and Rs 22 lakh for water bottles.
